An Inconvenient Truth: Company Knowledge is Leaving without Being Replaced

According to my research over the last five years, interviewing 500+ people in each of today’s five workplace generations, employees between the ages of 18 and 24 stay with their companies an average of 18 months. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the average tenure of employees in 1983 as 3.5 years. That’s quite a change! Baby Boomers, born between 1946 – 1964, began retiring in large numbers in 2010 and there are far fewer Gen X’ers to fill their vacated positions. Statistics like these lead me to believe that organizations have no choice but to step up efforts to recruit, select and retain the people who will help them survive and thrive over the next few decades. Finding people who can learn quickly and stay mentally agile, regardless of age, in order to help their companies stay responsive to the marketplace is critical. Not at some future date. Today.